Immediate steps are being taken to improve a dangerous stretch of Route 85 in Salem after a person was killed early Wednesday morning in a two-car accident.

But the Salem first selectman and others say long-term fixes are needed, and that the state ultimately needs to move forward with plans to complete Route 11.

That move took an important step last week. The General Assembly’s Transportation Committee on March 15 approved a proposal to install tolls on the yet to be completed portion of Route 11.

The Route 11 proposal has won committee support in the past, only to fail to be enacted because of a lack of support in either one or both legislative chambers.

Completion of Route 11 has been stalled for decades. The most recent hurdle has been the lack of funds available to cover the state’s share — roughly $200 million — of the estimated $1 billion needed to finish the eight-mile connection to Interstate 95 in the East Lyme/Waterford area. The tolls would be used to repay the money borrowed to complete the project.

Wednesday’s fatal accident on Route 85 at Skyline Drive was the second crash at that location within the last week, Salem First Selectman Kevin Lyden said.

Banning was driving a 2001 Ford Focus southbound on Route 85, police said. The vehicle entered the northbound lane and was hit by a 2012 Mercedes-Benz driven by Thomas Moriarty, 41, of West Springfield, Mass.

The road was closed in both directions for about four hours after the two-car accident, which was reported to state police at 5:47 a.m.

While Lyden said he didn’t know the cause of the deadly crash, a Department of Transportation traffic report cited ice conditions, and Lyden said the area has been a problem. The region had snow and rain Tuesday and areas of black ice were forecast for overnight.

“There is ice build-up that happens there,” he said. That portion of Route 85 also is narrow, and a curve gives drivers turning on to Route 85 from Skyline Drive a poor line of sight, he said.

“I don’t think there’s any question Route 85 is unsafe,” said state Rep. Ed Jutila, D-East Lyme and one of the toll bill’s sponsors. “The accident is the latest in a lot of tragic accidents. It’s not going to change my position that we need to complete Route 11.”

Lyden is doing what he can in the near-term to make Route 85 safer. A DOT crew from Waterford used a backhoe Wednesday afternoon to move part of the ground to make it less susceptible to water build-up on the roadway.

“We’ll also be enhancing the sight line and add a bit of a bypass area to make it easier for residents on Skyline Drive to turn on to Route 85,” he said. More improvements, totaling about $500,000 to $1.5 million, still would be needed for safety on Route 85, Lyden said.

Page 2 of 2 - The road sees its heaviest traffic between Route 1 in Waterford and Salem Four Corners.

“There are really no shoulders,” on Route 85, he said. There’s a curve there ... and people who come off of Route 11 on to Route 85 are going 60 or 70 miles per hour, and they don’t acclimate to traveling 40 miles per hour on Route 85.”

The two-lane road also is ill-equipped to handle traffic, even though it’s the hurricane evacuation route for New London, he said.

“And there’s a mass transit bus from Colchester to Hartford, but it doesn’t go to New London because it was found that Route 85 isn’t equipped for it,” Sielman said.